DVD Review: “TNA presents Immortal Forever?”

TNA’s newest non-PPV DVD release chronicles the history and formation of TNA’s top heel group, Immortal, led by the “Immortal” Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. This special 2-Disc DVD release takes a look at the controversial group from it’s inception starting with the Hogan signing and the planting of the seeds and the eventual official formation at 10-10-10 (Bound for Glory) and on.

The first disc starts out with Bischoff talking about the reasoning for them taking over TNA and it was all about Hogan and Bischoff executing their vision for Wrestling. Dixie Carter also comments about her initial meetings with Hogan and Bischoff, and how she admits to being “played” by Hogan and Bischoff. Hogan claims that the big “5-star matches” that the TNA stars were having doesn’t “do numbers” and it’s about personalities and you have to be more than just a great wrestler. Footage of the Press Conference TNA held at Madison Square Garden to officially announce Hogan and Bischoff coming to TNA is shown.

Bischoff says they wanted to change TNA with the cooperation of Dixie Carter but it just didn’t work out that way. Dixie talks about how special of a day it was to her when Hulk Hogan signed with TNA but now it’s bitter-sweet. Hogan says TNA does have the best wrestlers in the world and that is the foundation but it’s not just about that. Footage of Dixie’s speech to the TNA roster which was shown on Impact and got some not so positive reaction from a lot of people is shown.

Abyss comments on how great of a day it was for him to find out that Hogan was coming to TNA because of him growing up idolizing him. Bully Ray says that Hogan has always been over because you either love him or you hate him passionately. Matt Hardy reiterates that sentiment. Rob Terry says when Hogan was announced as coming he knew that changes were coming good or bad. Kazarian says his first reaction to Hogan signing was shock and Beer Money says they thought it was a positive because of how big he is, but as a wrestler it does nothing for him because he’s old. Sting says he knew it could be something phenomenal or a disaster and it threw up red flags for him. Hogan’s debut in TNA on January 4th.

Kazarian then talks about Jeff Hardy debuting during the Steel Asylum Match and he says it was an exciting time in TNA but he didn’t want to become one of the guys pushed aside because of these new guys coming in. Jeff Hardy’s debut is shown here as well. Flair talks about his debut and says he never planned on coming back to wrestling. Dixie says 2010 was a big turning point in TNA and she says she felt very proud of the talent in TNA. Hogan talks about guys like Anderson, RVD, Flair, and Hardy coming into TNA when he came and says that the real wrestlers in the business will end up in TNA.

Mick Foley being beaten down by The Band and then the drama between Flair and his new Fortune table and babyface Abyss is shown. A spotlight on Hogan’s only match in TNA, Hogan & Abyss vs. Flair & AJ is shown. Bischoff talks about Hogan and Flair’s past and Flair says they will never be best friends but they have tons of respect for each other. Bischoff also says he and Jarrett never got along together until now. He says the one thing they all have in common is the desire to be as strong as they can be in wrestling and to be successful. Jarrett’s speech on January 4th is shown.

Hogan says he was worried about Jarrett’s loyalty and where it lied, and he says Jarrett stepped up and knew Immortal was going towards greatness. A nice spotlight is put on the Foley-Jarrett Loser Leaves Town No DQ Match.

Dixie talks about taking away the six sided ring and she says it made them different and that was something difficult for her to change. Hogan makes fun of the 6-sided ring and says it has to happen inside the squared circle. AJ calls it stupid to go from 6-sides to 4-sides and says taking it away makes them just like everyone else. I’m actually surprised they even touched on the 6-sided ring.

Hogan and Bischoff’s promo from Genesis 2010 is shown where the 4-sided ring was re-introduced to TNA. Hogan and Abyss’ history is covered here as well. AJ and Flair’s history together and the feud between AJ and Joe is chronicled. AJ says he did learn something when Flair took him under his wing and he says he learned that wrestling is a dirty game. He says it may have been the wrong thing to do to join Flair in the first place but he did learn from it. Hogan says AJ’s greatest moment is when he was standing in Flair’s shadow.

The brief move to Monday nights is chronicled and the pros and cons of this move are discussed. Dixie says she is glad they tried it and she doesn’t regret it because she at least tried it, and now they have to try other things. The AJ-Flair vs. Hogan-Abyss match is shown in it’s entirety. This is the first full match that’s been shown on the DVD.

The Team Flair vs. Team Hogan Lethal Lockdown feud is featured next with members of each team talking about it and then the full Lethal Lockdown Match is shown followed by the official formation of Fortune on Impact by Ric Flair and comments from the members.

The next feature is Sting’s quest to “pull the curtain” back on Hogan & Bischoff being highlighted. Next, is Abyss’ prophecy that “they” and Bischoff and Hogan commenting on how they sat down with Abyss to outline their plan to take TNA from Dixie Carter. The drama with Sting is shown again and how Dixie didn’t believe Sting despite him trying to make her realize what Bischoff & Hogan were trying to do and how they manipulated her.

The next full match is the brutal Rhino-Abyss Falls Count Anywhere Match from No Surrender and then the “Road to 10-10-10” is shown.

Disc 2 starts off with everyone talking about EV2 and the Hardcore Justice PPV and how Hogan and Bischoff hated it, and the eventual showdown between EV2 and Immortal. Dixie talks about the criticism that “Hardcore Justice” got and she definitely takes exception to this criticism and then Hogan talks about being offended by the comparison of ECW to Hulk Hogan.

Abyss talks about the reasoning in destroying RVD the way he did and it’s because Hogan & Bischoff knew RVD would never go along with their plan so he would be a speed bump and he needed to take care of that speed bump. Bischoff compares Sting and RVD to a cold sore in one of the greatest analogies I’ve ever heard (or at least funniest). The speech that Hogan made the week after Hardcore Justice is shown and then Dreamer’s followed by Fortune’s beatdown of EV2. The injury to RVD also shown and then the showdown between Flair & Dixie the next week is shown which saw Dixie’s husband catch a beat down from Fortune as well. Hogan then lead Mr. Anderson, The Pope, Jeff Hardy, & Kurt Angle out to confront Fortune.

Dixie over turning Bischoff’s decision to make a 3-Way at Bound for Glory between Angle, Anderson, & Hardy where she made a No-Time Limit decision match between Anderson & Hardy is shown and then Abyss threatening to pretty much kill Dixie Carter. Bischoff then outlines how they were able to manipulate Dixie with him saving her from Abyss and then her agreeing to sign the papers without reading them. Clips from BFG with the official formation of Immortal finally coming together.

The full 3-Way at BFG between Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Mr. Anderson is shown and then Jeff Jarrett talks about taking the company away from Dixie Carter and how he was the founder, not her.

Different talent talk about Immortal taking over with varying opinions. AJ says he thinks Hogan sucks at business now. Fortune talks about when they joined Immortal and Kazarian says they were drunk with power. The officially joining together of Fortune & Immortal is also shown. Hogan talks about Dixie trying to get TNA back in the courts and he says nothing Dixie tries will get her company back.

The dissention between Fortune and Immortal starting from when Bischoff chastised AJ for not winning the TV Title back from Doug Williams is shown followed by Mr. Anderson’s shocking TNA Title win at Genesis 2011. Kurt Angle & Crimson’s claim that “they” are coming and then the eventual revealing of Fortune being “they” and turning on Immortal. Fortune talks about their motivation of splitting from Immortal. Fortune turning on Immortal and AJ’s excellent promo afterward is shown. The Ladder Match between Anderson & Hardy at Against All Odds is then shown.

Bischoff talks about the Network surprising them at the Impact tapings in North Carolina with Sting getting the title shot. Kazarian says Hogan is not good for TNA because he is about himself and nothing else. Fortune says their goal is to completely get rid of Immortal. Jarrett says that people keep asking “can I trust Hulk Hogan, but the question is can Hulk Hogan trust Jeff Jarrett.” AJ says the future of TNA is without Hogan and if there is anything he can do to make that happen he will. Dixie Carter’s speech at the North Carolina taping is shown followed by Fortune’s and then Immortal talks about their future and Bischoff says they have to control every single title in TNA. The Sting-Hardy match from the NC tapings is then shown. More Immortal future talk now and Hogan says he’s waiting for the “TNA originals” to wake up and give their blood to become a Main Eventer.

Overall “Forever Immortal” is a surprisingly excellent DVD that is very detailed in the history of Immortal and how it all came together. This DVD is PERFECT for new TNA fans that want to get the back story of how Immortal came together and all of the side stories involved. I’m not sure about doing a DVD on a group that’s still together but regardless this was an excellent release despite the lack of bonus features.